Khanh Hoa, Dec. 19 -- The Naval Region 4 Command reported on December 19 that it had coordinated efforts to safely bring 52 fishermen from a distressed fishing vessel to Song Tu Tay island in the Truong Sa special zone.

The vessel, captained by Huynh Van Hau from Nui Thanh Commune, Da Nang City, departed An Hoa Port on November 11 to operate in the Truong Sa fishing grounds.

On December 17, while restarting the engine to pick up fishermen and basket boats operating nearby, smoke suddenly billowed from the engine room, followed by a fire.

Despite urgent efforts to extinguish the blaze, strong winds and a large volume of fuel in the engine compartment caused the fire to spread rapidly. At the time of the incident, five fishermen were on ...